Ryan Kirsch has joined the Kirkwood men's basketball staff as an assistant coach for the 2018-19 season.

Kirsch is replacing Ben Jacobson on the Kirkwood staff. Jacobson, who is battling an inoperable brain tumor, has accepted a sales job in the community.

Kirkwood head coach Bryan Petersen said Jacobson is doing okay while fighting his ailment.

Kirsch served as a graduate assistant at South Dakota State this past season when the Jackrabbits finished 28-7 and reached the NCAA Division I national tournament as Summit League champions.

Kirsch was an undergraduate assistant/student manager at Iowa State from 2014 through 2016, working for ISU head coaches Fred Hoiberg and Steve Prohm. He was a graduate assistant at Augustana University in 2016-17.

Kirsch, a native of Corydon, has an engineering degree from Iowa State and a master's degree in sports management from Augustana. He and his wife, Branygon, reside in Ely.